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Within the history of the game, dunking is a recent innovation. Olympic gold medalist Robert Albert “Bob” Kurland emerged as a de facto inventor of the dunk shot– or the jam as it is also called. Though many players could dunk shot during that era, many chose not to, as the shot was viewed as unnecessary showboating. Kurland obviously didn’t feel this way - he became the first player to regularly do dunk shots in games.
The 7-foot Hall of Fame center used the shot routinely while playing on NCAA championship winning teams for Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State) in 1945 and 1946.
(Incidentally, since Kurland was such a dominant force above the rim, the N.C.A.A. banned goaltending in 1945 because Kurland regularly grabbed opponents’ shots out from above the rim)
Future NBA stars and Hall of Famers, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell, were other big men who used their size advantage upon entering the NBA in the late 1950s to regularly score off dunk shots.
The 7-foot Hall of Fame center used the shot routinely while playing on NCAA championship winning teams for Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State) in 1945 and 1946.
(Incidentally, since Kurland was such a dominant force above the rim, the N.C.A.A. banned goaltending in 1945 because Kurland regularly grabbed opponents’ shots out from above the rim)
Future NBA stars and Hall of Famers, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell, were other big men who used their size advantage upon entering the NBA in the late 1950s to regularly score off dunk shots.
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